


To Shatter Fate's Foundations

by banditess



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Episode Ardyn Spoilers, Ficlet, Gen, Haircuts, Implied one-sided Versdyn, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 14:46:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18284435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/banditess/pseuds/banditess
Summary: Spoilers for Episode Ardyn!Having seen the Infernian's memories, Ardyn has learned the truth of what happened the day Somnus betrayed him. Resolved to go his own way, free of the gods, he decides a bit of a change in appearance is in order.





	To Shatter Fate's Foundations

_This path is mine to tread -- alone.  
  
_ The field of wheat from his memory fades, and Ardyn finds himself back in the cold research facility, surrounded by steel and the soft whirring of machinery. By all accounts, things have never been worse for him, and yet somehow he feels…invigorated. Liberated, even! The better part of a year has passed since he was emancipated from his island prison, but only just now does he notice that he no longer feels the residual ache from the chains that bound his legs, or the lingering pain where the sharp points had pierced through his hands.  
  
All he feels now is _fire_ inside: the burning, unquenchable desire to raze his brother’s legacy to the ground. He wonders how much of the flames are his, and how much can be attributed to the spirit of the Infernian that now slumbers within him.  
  
Ardyn moves to take a single step -- to begin to walk his path, in the manner that all paths must begin -- but a metallic sound rings out as his foot grazes something on the ground: a dagger. A _very old Lucian dagger_ , to be precise. He scowls bitterly as he squats down to examine it. Its resemblance to the weapon Somnus forced upon him is uncanny. But surely it could not be…  
  
He picks it up by the handle, tests the balance of the blade, and finds it to be exactly what he likes. It looks unremarkable, yet it’s almost as if it were created just for him. _Placed_ here just for him. The gods have abandoned him, and he has abandoned the gods in turn…but perhaps they found him worthy of one final favor. A token for their fallen son, to protect him along his lonely road.  
  
Who is he kidding. The only one who will protect him now, is himself. He laughs sadly, feeling every bit of the emptiness inside of him, every inch of the void that separates him from the righteous path he once walked.  
  
Holding up the blade to the light, he catches his reflection in it -- and gasps sharply. Putting a hand to his face, feeling the stubble that dots his cheeks, he realizes: he has not seen his own face in two millennia. Certainly, he would have expected his face to change in so much time, but it is not that which shocks him -- no, rather it is the _lack_ of change. The visage he wears is still the same tired one he’d had when his life still made sense. When he healed the sick. When he could hold his beloved in his arms. When he and his brother had disagreements, yet still found time for chess at the end of the day. But that life is gone -- and now there is a monster’s face that hides behind this one.  
  
The flames roil in his gut, beckoning him to set the vestiges of his former self alight. Perhaps it is time to do something…drastic.  
  
Ardyn kneels. He turns the dagger in his hand, facing the blade inwards, pausing to take a breath, letting go of the echoes of rituals he performed in his old life as he exhales. He’ll not be serving this offering up in anyone’s name today. He reaches the other hand behind his head, gathering his long, unruly hair together. In one swift motion, giving himself no time for second thoughts, he slices through his long locks, like a farmer reaping stalks of wheat with a sickle. They easily come loose in his hand. Holding the hair in his fist, he pauses for just a moment before summoning up a ball of dark fire. Ardyn smiles wickedly as the fire engulfs his hand.  
  
And just like that, his long hair is gone -- and with it go his blind piety, his naivete, his reliance on others. They may call him a monster, but at least he is a monster who has no illusions about what the world really is.  
  
He finds Verstael in the hall above. No doubt he spent the entire battle taking notes. Ardyn stands close to him, _towering_ over him, and feels the buzz of power flowing through his very veins. Verstael had said Ardyn was nearly a god, but only now does he feel anything close to it.  
  
“Listen well, man of science,” Ardyn hisses, “I will assist you in your research. But I will do it of my own accord. I will not be _shackled_ again -- not by gods, or by men. You have seen what I am capable of. You know that if I wished it, I could snap the necks of every soldier in this facility and walk out of the front door without breaking a sweat. We will have a mutual partnership, in which I can say _no_ at any time, or we will have nothing at all. Is that understood?”  
  
Verstael gives him a feral look, as though he would gladly allow Ardyn to pin him up against the wall -- _for science_. He nods, a gleam in his eye.  
  
“Wonderful!” Ardyn claps a hand to Verstael’s back. “Now then, I should very much like to continue this path of __self-improvement I have started myself on. Why just stop with a haircut? Yes, I believe a new outfit is in order as well…”  
  
Ardyn steers Verstael back out of the basement of the facility. He can't wear these scratchy, ill-fitting rags forever -- and gods know he'll never go back to wearing the vestments of a healer. Perhaps he’ll choose something in black, so when he finally returns to the land that is rightfully his, Somnus’ descendants will know that Death has come for them.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought FOR SURE we were going to get this scene in the DLC, because it was such a good opportunity for a Classic Final Fantasy Callback...and while I was disappointed that we didn't, I'm also a little glad, because I did want to write it. With my apologies that it isn't an update for any of my other fics...sorry y'all. :)
> 
> Title is from the Assemblage 23 song ["Salt the Earth"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YabG7HJcBL4) \-- which is a fantastic Ardyn song. Check it out!


End file.
